This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2006 SPE Technical Symposium of Saudi

Arabia Section held in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 21-23 May 2006.

Copyright 2006 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper was selected for presentation by the Technical Symposium Program Committee
following review of information contained in full manuscript submitted by the author(s).
Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum
Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not
necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members.

Abstract
This paper on ERD wells focuses on nearly all important
aspects of drilling ERD wells. Various case studies have also
been taken while discussing various aspects so as to signify
the practical experience of ERD wells. The latest technology
for drilling ERD wells has been taken up. This paper will
discuss the planning of ERD wells, the latest technology for
ERD wells, the consideration of drill pipes and drilling fluid
design for ERD wells, completion of ERD wells, well control
and fishing and workover tools for ERD wells.
At the end, suggestions have been given so as to get better
results for ERD wells.

Introduction
As we drill into deeper harsh areas, the use of efficient and
effective technology becomes a necessity not only due to drill
the areas successfully, but also to be in accordance with the
stringent environmental conditions. ERD wells have been
successful in not only delivering excellent results but also
minimize environmental effects.
ERD wells are those wells where the wellbore is kicked off
from the vertical near the surface, inclination is built to allow
sufficient horizontal displacement from the surface to reach
the target zone some distance away, and the angle is again
built to near horizontal.(Figure 1)
The wellbore is then extended horizontally into the reservoir.
In other terms, a well is defined as extended reach if it has a
stepout ratio (horizontal displacement divided by TVD at total
depth) of 1 or more.
The use of extended-reach wells results in less surface
disturbance because fewer wells are needed and surface sites
have a smaller footprint. ERD wells employ both directional
and horizontal drilling techniques so as to achieve greater
horizontal departures.
ERD wells not only provide solutions for restricted reservoir
production but also help us to eliminate additional platforms.
Though, ERD wells are considered to be more risky than
conventional wells, but with the use of effective technology
and personnel experience far better results can be obtained
when compared to conventional wells.

Planning of ERD wells
Planning for ERD wells is driven by economical,
environmental and technical objectives.
In general extended reach drill string design involves:
Determining expected loads
Selecting drill string components
Verifying each components condition
Monitoring conditions during drilling
Economic issues in drill string planning include availability,
logistics and cost. Rig and logistics issues include storage
space, accuracy of load indicators, pump pressure/volume
capacity, and top drive output torque. Hole issues include hole
cleaning, hole stability, hydraulics, casing wear, and
directional objectives.
Environmental conditions should also be taken into
consideration while planning for ERD wells. We can take the
example of Wytch Farm extended reach drilling by British
Petroleum which has created a new milestone by drilling and
completion of an ERD well with an horizontal displacement of
35,196 ft. the Wytch Farm oil field had three main oil fields
out of which the Sherwood reservoir was the most productive
one. The development plan had to be carefully carried out
because not only the area was a tourist spot but also the plan
had to adhere to the stringent environmental regulations.
Initially, it was planned to have an artificial island and simple
directional wells. Instead, ERD wells were chosen because it
would better protect the environment and would also cut the
costs by half.
There is a need to create a multi functional team so as to
identify the risks associated with the well and the tools and
practices to manage them. Extensive training of all the
personnel is a must along with close cooperation for smooth
working relationship. A study of successfully drilled ERD
wells in the past is also necessary. We can take the example of
the Hibernia ERD well for getting a view of their planning
process. In 2002, the Hibernia Management and Development
Company (HMDC), led by ExxonMobil Canada drilled and
completed a 31,000ft MD well with a horizontal departure and
vertical depth that has exceeded the present day industry ERD
envelope. HMDC created multi functional teams so as to look

SPE106346
Planning and Identifying the Best Technologies for Extended Reach Wells
Adit Gupta, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, India
2 Adit Gupta
after different aspects of drilling the ERD well. Different
workshops were held so as to effectively train the personnels
in drilling the ERD well. These workshops were divided into
eight focus areas: casing and cementing operations,
directional, formation evaluation, downhole tools, open/cased
hole wireline logging, drilling fluids and solids control,
completions and rig operations. The team of HMDC also
initiated specialized research projects in areas of hole cleaning
and shale stability.
Similarly, BP conducted more than 300 meetings to plan their
ERD well at the Wytch Farm.
ADCO drilled their ERD well with a MD of 18,478ft and a
HD of 13,780ft.With the help of excellent planning, ADCO
was able to beat the learning curve in extended reach wells.

Technology for ERD wells
1. Rotary steerable systems: Rotary steerable drilling is
the technology that enables full three dimensional
drilling control to be performed while drilling with
continuous drillstring rotation from surface and thus
no slide drilling is necessary. A special BHA
component known as rotary steering device is
necessary to perform the above-mentioned task.
(Figure 2)Rotary steerable systems offer the
following advantages over the slide drilling:
Fewer trips are required when using RSS. RSS
uses fixed cutter bits unlike the other systems,
which used tricone bits for directional control
reasons. The longer life of fixed cutter bits
results in more footage per bit and thus fewer
trips for bit change.
Continuous rotation at higher speeds results in
very efficient hole cleaning.
RSS can drill nearly all the required section
trajectories using a single BHA design. Reduced
tripping activity can be measured by comparing
the footage drilled vs. the total amount of pipe
tripped over the course of the project.
Drilling with RSS results in a more in-gauge hole
than drilling with other systems. Thus, this
results in lower volumes of drilled cuttings waste
and lower drilling fluid losses. Thus, RSS offers
an environmental benefit, which is a major
reason of concern in ERD drilling.
Better ROP can be achieved with RSS due to less
effect of torque and drag. (T/D analysis is taken
up in later sections of this paper). This can be
understood with the help of the following
example. It was found that it was practically
impossible to drill the ERD well at the Wytch
Farm with the help of slide drilling. In slide
drilling, the mud motor must be oriented and
maintained in a particular direction. This
orientation is achieved through a combination of
rotating the drillstring several revolutions and
working the pipe to turn it to the desired
direction. At 8km or more, the pipe may need 15
to 20turns at surface just to turn the tool once
downhole.it is difficult to maintain such high-
generated torques at the lower end of the
drillstring. Such difficulties are not encountered
in RSS. Also, in wells with high drag, the
drillstring cannot be lowered smoothly and
continuously, which prevents the motor from
operating at optimal conditions unlike RSS.
Continuous pipe rotation, smoother trajectory
due to less effect of torque and drag results in
reduce stuck pipe and lost in hole (LIH)
incidents. A study showed that RSS had LIH rate
15% less than the conventional systems.
Thus the following advantages were realized in RSS:
Improved ROP, reducing drilling time.
Improved hole cleaning.
Reduced torque and drag.
More environmental friendly.

2. Casing Floatation: As stated earlier that overcoming torque
and drag is one of the major challenges in an ERD well. This
becomes one of the major hurdles when completing a well to a
departure beyond 8000m. The ERD well drilled at the Wytch
Farm showed that running the 9-5/8in. became increasingly
difficult with greater departures. It was analyzed that drag
would be to run the casing even with full weight from the
traveling block.
Casing floatation was the method, which can get the casing to
the total depth.
In casing floatation, casing is not filled as each joint is run into
the wellbore, as is done in typical casing operations. The goal
is to have the casing close to neutrally buoyant, so it becomes
virtually weightless in the mud, and drag is minimal. In a long
extended-reach section, an entire air-filled casing string can
become positively buoyant and resist being pushed farther into
the well. Thus, partial casing floatation was taken up and the
casing string was divided into two sections; the upper section
filled with mud and the lower section filled with air. Thus,
double floatation collars were used. The section filled with
mud is in the vertical section of the well and provides weight
to help push the lower, buoyant casing into the well.
BP completed three of its wells with casing floatation namely
M08, M09 and M11.
Thus, casing floatation proved to be an important technology
for ERD wells.

3. Solid Expandable Tubular Technology: Drilling and
completion of ERD wells is considered as a difficult task due
to the many problems associated with ERD wells like high
torque and drag, hole cleaning and hole stability.
Solid Expandable Tubular (SET) Technology has two
important advantages in ERD wells:
Favorable drillstring casing geometry is possible
which can reduce the tendency for drillstring lockup.
Use of Larger drilling tubular is possible
ERD wells extend up to large horizontal distances,
which require running additional casing strings. SET
is useful in these cases.

3 Planning and Identifying best technologies for ERD wells

In SET, the casing is being cold worked to expand it to the
required size downhole. Many other technical aspects are
taken care of, as cold working is an unstable process for the
tubular.
Expansion process (Figure 3): the launcher assembly
(launcher + expansion cone) is connected to the liner to be
expanded and is run through the rotary table. The required
length of the expandable casing is then connected and is run in
the wellbore which is followed by running the drillstring
concentrically into the liner till it is latched into the expansion
cone with the help of a safety thread connection. When the
dart gets seated, pressure is exerted below the expansion cone.
Expansion is initiated with hydraulic pressure from the
drillstring. The expansion process is verified by decrease in
the hook load. The progress of the cone through the tubular
deforms the steel past its elastic yield limit into its plastic
deformation region, but not its ultimate yield strength.
Expansions of over 25percent, based on the diameter of the
pipe, have been accomplished.
SET are very useful in transversing severely depleted zone
especially when the zone lies in an abnormal pressurized
environment.
Thus, vertical wells can easily be completed with the
conventional casing systems, but for long ERD wells, in some
cases, SET become the only option.
4. Near-Bit Reamers: Near-bit reamers are concentric reaming
tools that can be run anywhere in the BHA to increase the hole
diameter. This tool can be run either above or below the motor
and logging-while-drilling tools.

5. Thrusters: Thrusters generate weight-on-bit by using
drilling fluid hydraulics. The pump-open behavior of thrusters
decouples the lower part of the bottom hole assembly from the
remainder of the drillstring, and in so doing provides a
constant, controllable weight-on-bit (WOB) that dampens out
axial vibrations and shocks.
6. Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD): effective logging is
also a major task in ERD wells. MWD stands out to be the
best technology for ERD wells.
MWD is the evaluation of physical properties, usually
including pressure, temperature and wellbore trajectory in
three-dimensional space, while extending a wellbore. The
measurements are made downhole, stored in solid-state
memory for some time and later transmitted to the surface.


Torque and Drag

Drilling shallow ERD horizontal wells in which the ratio of
displacement to TD is greater than 3:1 poses difficulties in
maintaining enough weight to push the drillstring towards
ultimate TVD. If the drag forces are large, then more weight is
needed. Drag forces are much higher when the drillstring is
not rotating, which occurs when tripping the string in at the
beginning of a bit run and when directional drilling with a
positive displacement motor (PDM) or steerable motor. The

sliding friction factor, f
s
usually is in the range of 0.30 to 0.50.
When the drillstring is rotated, the drag forces are greatly
reduced and the friction factor is between 0.03 and 0.07. The
reduction in drag forces during rotation eliminates the problem
of moving the bit to the bottom of the ERD wells. This is the
main reason for the popularity of rotary steerable systems.
When the drillstring is rotating, torque is seen at the surface.
This torque is a function of the tool joints in the drill string
and stabilizer blades in the BHA. Many techniques like use of
mechanical tools, mud lubricants and drill collars for extra
weight have been used for reduction of torque and drag, but all
these techniques have their side effects. Use of smaller
diameter drill pipe may be used in the deeper, high angle
sections of ERD wells to reduce torque, drag and equivalent
circulation density (ECD). Hole cleaning in high angle
boreholes can reduce torque and drag losses.

Consideration of Drill pipes and Drilling fluids for ERD
wells
1. Drill Pipes
Till now, ERD wells were drilled with either 5- in. or 6-5/8
in. or a combination of both. But sue to the problems, which
arises due to the above drill pipes, the industry is now turning
to 5-7/8 in. drill pipes.
The hydraulic performance of 5-1/2in.drill pipe becomes a
major limitation in ERD wells resulting in poor cuttings
removal, slow penetration rates and diminished control over
well trajectory.
The 6-5/8in.drill pipe is difficult to handle and requires more
physical space on the rig.
The 5-7/8in. pipe also provides 16% more ID flow area than 5-
1/2 in. pipe. Moreover, it is found that pressure losses are
reduced upto 28% with the 5-7/8in. pipes.
2. Drilling Fluids
The following factors should be considered while making a
choice of drilling fluids for the ERD wells:
ECD management
Hole cleaning
Torque and drag
Borehole stability
Lost circulation
Moreover, due to the stringent environmental conditions, the
industry is going on for the development of more efficient
water-based muds, in conjunction with some suitable
lubricants, so as to replace the invert emulsion muds
Invert emulsion muds had been the priority for drilling wells
due to their greater lubricity and for preserving hole stability.
Moreover, low torque and drag and ECD have been
experienced by the use of invert emulsion muds. Thus, invert
emulsion muds prove to be a good choice for ERD wells, but
due to the environmental regulations, then have been now
replaced by the water based muds.
The most suitable water based muds currently available for
ERD drilling, when shale inhibition is required, are potassium
based, non dispersed, polymer muds containing glycol or
silicates. When inhibition is not required, low solids polymer

4 Adit Gupta

formulations or mixed metal silicates may be used. These
muds are highly effective in ERD drilling
Silicate drilling fluids exhibit remarkable shale stabilizing
properties, resulting in gauge hole and the formation of firm,
discrete cuttings when drilling reactive shales. Silicate muds
are low solids polymer systems formulated in seawater or
monovaleny brines with the addition of a soluble silicate
complex for inhibition.
Glycol enhanced water based mud systems offer the
advantages of enhanced shale inhibition, improved filter cake
quality, reduced fluid loss and reduced dilution rates.
Development of better water based muds for ERD wells will
take place in the near future.

Well Control
Gas kick is one of the most dangerous situations which can
cause a blowout of the well. ERD wells are more prone to
kicks and lost circulation due to the large distances upto,
which they are drilled. Though, ERD wells have some
advantages when the well takes a kick because gas migration
rates are slower. Gas migrates at a rapid rate when the
inclination is 45 and its migration rate decreases as the well
becomes horizontal. As long as the kick is in the horizontal
section, the shut in casing pressure (SICP) and shut in drill
pipe pressure (SIDPP) are about the same because hydrostatic
pressure on both sides of the U-tube is the same. The
following well control procedures should be taken in ERD
wells.
1. Drillers method should be used to control the well.
The drillers method uses the old mud to circulate out
the influx and requires two circulations to kill the
well. The first circulation displaces the influx with
old mud from the pits, and the second circulation
replaces the old mud with the new kill mud. The kil
weight mud will take a long time to get prepared for
the long ERD wells, which could worsen the
conditions. So, drillers method is the most preferable
method.
2. Start circulating at a high rate for a short time to
remove gas from the horizontal section of the
wellbore.


Fishing and Workover tools
1. Coiled tubing casing patches: this technology is an
external casing patch system. The tool is a high
pressure hydraulically actuated dual packer expansion
device. After the two rubber seals are actuated, high-
pressure fluid is pumped between the seals. The
pressure is increased and expands the patch first
elastically then plastically with approximately 5,000
psi hydraulic pressure. The pressure on the seals is
controlled to ensure that the seal is maintained until
full contact with outer tubing/casing is achieved. As
the pressure continues to increase, the outer tubing is
elastically strained until the predetermined and preset
final swage pressure is achieved. The pressure is then

bled off, and the seals are retracted by use of a 1500 psi retract
cycle.
Other conventional fishing tools are also used like:
Junk baskets
Junk mils
Wireline spears
Overshots
Suggestions
The following suggestions have been given keeping in mind
the logging, drilling and completion aspects of ERD wells.
1. Swell Packers: Solid Expandable tubular technology
is one of the main technologies used in ERD wells.
This technology can be complimented with the use of
swellable packers. Swellable packers can be easily
customized to suit a variety of completion scenarios.
Moreover, they are less costly than the mechanical
packers. Also, swellable packers can eliminate
cement jobs in many cases, particularly where the
cement is being used to achieve zonal isolation.
2. Offset Stabilizers: the use of offset stabilizers allows
better rotary steerable operations. The new stabilizer
drills a curved path by using an offset stabilizer to
achieve the desired well trajectory. Orientation of the
control stabilizer is maintained by an eccentric mass,
which hangs to the low side of the hole. The new
offset stabilizer accurately geosteers as per the target
requirements. The new stabilizer requires a hole
inclination in excess of 45 to maintain orientation of
mass. The new offset stabilizer offers the following
advantages:
Improves ROP
Elimination of bit trip
Ability to geosteer along the extended
section
Thus, due to these advantages, the offset stabilizer
proves to be an important technology for ERD wells.
3. Through Bit Logging: ERD wells are considered to
be more difficult to work on in comparison to the
conventional wells. Loggins is one of the operations,
which might prove a difficult task in some of the
ERD wells. Through bit logging technology can be an
efficient logging technlology for difficult ERD wells.
Through bit logging is a method for data acquisition
using the drill string and bit as a conduit to the well
bore. In this new system, the logging tools are
conveyed via the drillstring and pass into the open
hole through a specially designed bit, with formation
evaluation data being acquired with either wireline or
memory tools, unlike LWD where tripping drill pipe
out of the well is necessary. Thus, rig time can be
saved. Thus, TBL offers the following advantages:
Reduced operation risk
Security of data acquisition
Rig time savings
Continuos wireline quality data

5 Planning and Identifying best technologies for ERD wells







Figure 1: Extended Reach Well, Courtsey: BP Exploration,
Shlumberger









Figure 2: Configuration of Rotary Steerable Systems,
Courtsey: World Oil












Figure 3: Expansion process for Solid Expandable Tubulars
































6 Adit Gupta


References:

1. Applied Drilling Engineering SPE Textbook
2. Schlumberger- Oilfield Glossary
3. Schlumberger Case Study- Extended Reach Drilling
at Wytch Farm
4. Schlumberger Case Study- Extended Reach Drilling
at Xiang
5. Drilling Contractor-July/August-2003- Rotary
Steerable Drilling Technology matures
6. World Oil-May 2005- A swell idea simplifies
completions
7. SPE paper- Record Extended Reach Drilling at
Hibernia
8. SPE paper 91854- Understanding Toque and Drag:
Best practices and lessons learned from the Captain
field Extended Reach Wells
9. SPE/IADC paper 72290- Drilling Fluid
Management for Extended Reach Drilling
10. SPE/IADC paper 92256-Application of Through Bit
Logging in difficult wells, Offshore North Sea
11. IADC paper- Next Generation Drill Pipe for
Extended Reach, Deepwater and Ultra-deep Drilling